Difficulties in Learning and Producing Passive Voice

International Conference on Linguistics, Literature and Culture

175

Difficulties in Learning and Producing Passive Voice

Fitnete Martinaj

Faculty of Foreign Languages,

AAB College Prishtina

Abstract

This study examines how learners learning English produce and

judge English passive voice structures. The ultimate goal of this

study is to contribute to an understanding of the extent, nature and

sources of learners' persistent difficulties with some syntactic

properties of the language they are acquiring.

It is to examine whether word order errors in the production of

English passive voice by L2 learners stem from lack of knowledge

or from difficulties with automatic implementation of L2

procedures.

To examine whether errors in the production of English passive

voice by L2 learners (in our case, English) can be attributed to

transfer of L1 (in our case, Albanian) properties and vice versa,

Albanian and English patterns are compared.

Taken together, the facts indicate that difficulties with English

passive voice structures are a consistent phenomenon in L2

acquisition, and do not follow in a direct way from properties of the

L1. Furthermore, the facts show that learners' errors are associated

with some syntactic configurations, suggesting that L2 learners

divert similar grammatical hypotheses and make use of similar

mechanisms for language acquisition.

Keywords: transfer, compare, similarities, interference

Introduction

The English passive is an English language structure that is used in many

reading passages, particularly in academic and scientific texts, when it is

not necessary to be mentioned the responsibility of the doer. Therefore, it

is obvious that English passive is included in English instruction in most

education levels. During my teaching experiences, I have found that a large

number of Albanian EFL learners, at university level, cannot use the

English passive correctly, although they have been taught this structure

since secondary schools. Thus, English Grammar and Albanian Grammar

were presented in order to explain the structure of passive voice. In order

to describe the students’ errors, a special case of Contrastive Analysis is

http://aab-edu.net/

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used, and synonymous utterances are compared in the learner’s target

language; in the other words, “erroneous utterances” and “reconstructed

utterances” were compared. Furthermore, the Contrastive Analysis was

also used to find out the similarity and the difference between English and

Albanian passive voice.

Scope of Problem

The study attempted to examine the following problems:

1. What is the similarity and difference between English and Albanian

passive voice?

2. What are the difficulties faced by the students in producing English

passive voice?

Concept of English Passive Voice

The passive voice is used as a strategy that allows language users to avoid

mentioning the agent”, and in majority of cases, the subject of the active

verb – the agent - is not expressed in the passive. For example, the sentence

“The window was broken by the boy” is called a passive voice because the

subject “The window” receives the action of the verb “broken”. According

to Quirk et. al (1985: 58); In all passive clause types, the agent by-phrase,

which incorporates a noun phrase equivalent to the subject of the

corresponding active clause, has the structural status of an optional

adverbial. Even when the agent by-phrase is absent, however, there is an

implication of its presence at the level of meaning. In this sense, the agent

by-phrase acts as complementation of the passive verb.

English Grammar

According to Quirk (1985: 37-47), “Grammar is a complex system, the

parts of which cannot be properly explained in abstraction from the whole.

In this sense, all parts of grammar are mutually defining, and there is no

simple linear path we can take in explaining one part in terms of another”.

One of the important aspects in the process of learning the second language

is the mastery of grammar. Particularly, in this study, the students have to

learn when to use regular and irregular verbs, tenses, and „to be‟ in forming

the English passive voice.


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English Verb

The verb indicates an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Eckersley

(1960: 143) said that, though to have a sentence without a verb is possible,

it is true that, in the great majority of sentences, the verb is the word that

plays the most important part. Whether mental, physical, or mechanical,

verbs always express activity.

Forms of the Verb

Here are the forms of the verb that no sentence structure, and particularly

passive voice structure, could be formed without them:

a. Finite or Non-Finite Verbs

b. Regular and Irregular Verbs

c. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Verb Voice

According to Eckersley (1960: 219-224), “If the person or thing denoted

by the subject of a sentence is the doer of the action, then that form of the

verb is the active voice.

e.g. The man kicked the ball. (Active Voice)

If the person or thing denoted by the subject of a sentence is the receiver

or sufferer of the action, then that form of the verb is the Passive Voice,

e.g.

The ball was kicked by the man. (Passive Voice)

The passive voice is formed using the appropriate tense of the verb to be +

the past participle of the verb.

In many cases, when the active construction is changed into the passive, it

is better to omit the agent. For example, when the following sentence is in

the active voice:

People in Kosovo speak Albanian.

The passive voice sentence should be:

Albanian is spoken in Kosovo. And NOT: Albanian is spoken in Kosovo

by people.

Only the transitive verbs can be used in passive voice. The verbs of

Incomplete Predication such as seem, be, become, etc., can never be used

in passive; e.g. He became King could never have a passive form such as

A king was become by him. Certain intransitive verbs can be made into

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transitive ones by the addition of a preposition. These verbs can be used in

the passive voice, e.g.

His plan was laughed at by everyone who heard it.

That is a famous bed; it was slept in by Queen Elizabeth I.

Though all transitive verbs can theoretically be made passive, there are

cases where, in practice, the passive would not be used, for example:

He had a good breakfast before he went to work, would not be used

passively as: A good breakfast was had by him….

Some verbs, such as give, tell, show, lend, get, write, sell, buy, bring, make,

fetch, promise, teach, take two objects, one usually standing for a person,

the other for a thing. The word for the person is INDIRECT OBJECT and

is the first of the two objects; the word for the thing is DIRECT OBJECT,

e.g. He sold us (indirect) his house (direct). Here, us means „to us‟.

The infinitive without to

In the active voice some verbs are followed by the infinitive without to. In

the passive we use most such verbs with the infinitive with to.

Active: We saw them come. She made him do it.

Passive: They were seen to come. He was made to do it.

Infinitive constructions after passive verbs

Sentences of the type, People consider/ know/

think/estimate/feel/assume/claim, etc. that he is… have two possible

passive forms:

It is considered/known/thought etc. that he is very intelligent.

He is considered/known/thought etc. to be very intelligent.

He is believed/known/said/supposed/thought to be living abroad.

(Continuous Infinitive)

Passive voice with gerund:

e.g. Having passed the test, he felt relieved.

Modal Passives

According to Azar, B. S. (1999: 218-233), Modal passives have the

following structure:

modal + be + past participle

This letter ought to be sent before June 1st.

Many stative passive verbs are followed by prepositions other than

‘by’.


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I am interested in Chinese art.

He is satisfied with his job.

There are examples of idiomatic usage of the passive form in common,

everyday English. These sentences have no equivalent active sentences.

I don’t know where I am. I am lost. I am finished with my work.

I can’t find my purse. It is gone. I am done with my work.

The Passive with Get

Get may also be followed by a past participle. The past participle functions

as an adjective; it describes the subject.

I stopped working because I got tired.

Passive forms with Have and Get

The passive form: have + subject + past participle is used to talk about

something we want other people to do for us.

She had her nose pierced when she was a teenager.

Get + past participle is used for things that happen by accident.

My luggage got stolen somewhere at the airport

According to Coleman (1997): ‘the passive form should be considered in

each of the following cases, (A) necessity: to prevent ungrammatical,

unwieldy or semantically confusing prose.

(B) stylistic effectiveness: to make the prose more coherent, elegant,

economical and purposeful.

Albanian Grammar

Besides the theory of English Grammar, it was also important to know the

theory of Albanian Grammar, particularly the Albanian passive form, since

the students’ first language is Albanian language. According to Chomsky

(1956) the languages share some features that are common in all, called as

principles and some features that are different from one language to

another language, called as parameters. It can be seen that the function,

form and usage of the passive voice in Albanian language is the same as in

the passive voice in English.

e.g. English: The contract was made by him.

Albanian: Kontrata qe lidhur nga ai.

Furthermore, they have the same rules for three forms of verbs like simple

past or past participle.

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e.g. English: do –did – done

Albanian: bëj – bëra - bërë

Modal passive structure in Albanian is similar to that in English.

e.g. Manuscripts should never be rolled and that they should be written on

one side of the paper.

Dorëshkrimet s’duhet të palosen dhe duhet të shkruhen vetëm në njërën

faqe të letrës.

(Example taken from the novel, “Martin Eden” written by Jack London

and translated by Shaban Demiraj)

They are similar with Stative passives,

e.g. The door is locked.

Dera është e mbyllur.

Both direct and indirect object take the position of subject in passive

structures.

e.g. 1. Someone gave Mrs. Lee an award = Dikush ia dha z.Lee

një shpërblim

Mrs. Lee was given an award = Z. Lee iu dha një shpërblim

2. Someone gave an award to Mrs. Lee = Dikush ia dha një shpërblim

z. Lee

An award was given to Mrs. Lee = Një shpërblim iu dha z. Lee

According to Wikipeadia, Free Enciclopedia: ‘English Passive’, Albanian

language has a middle voice. The middle voice often has a reflexive sense:

the subject acts on or for itself, such as "The boy washes himself", or "The

boy washes". It can be transitive or intransitive.

In English there is no longer a verb form for the middle voice, though some

uses may be classified as a middle voice, often resolved via a reflexive

pronoun, as in "Fred shaved", which may be expanded to "Fred shaved

himself" – contrast with active "Fred shaved John" or passive "John was

shaved by Fred".

Rista-Dema says that according to the literature on the structure of

Albanian (Demiraj 1988; Kallulli 1995) Albanian is described as a free

word order language. However, the unmarked order of constituents in a

transitive construction is considered to be SVO, as in the following

example:

Beni shkruante një letër.

Ben- the write a letter

(‘Ben was writing a letter’)


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As Kallulli (1995) observes, “Albanian has full-fledged morphological

case. Subjects (S) bear nominative case, direct objects (DO) bear

accusative case, indirect objects (IO) bear dative case. Albanian is a null-

subject language”. The verb contains information about the subject

features. (P3ps = past 3rd person singular; Acc. = accusative.)

Lexonte një libër

Read a book

P3ps Acc.

(‘He/she was reading a book’)

Subjects in Albanian may appear either preverbally or postverbally in both

active and passive constructions, as well as in one-argument verb

constructions. Kallulli notes: “The

phenomenon of the subject appearing post-verbally is sometimes referred

to as free inversion

. . . and is exemplified in the (b) examples.” Whereas English does not have

this possibility, therefore it is obliged to use passive voice only.

Preverbal and postverbal subject constructions (Kallulli 1995: 6–7):

1a. Ana këndoi një këngë. [S–V–O]

An-the sing a song

Nom. P3ps Acc. [Nom. = nominative]

(‘Ann sang a song.’)

b. Një këngë këndoi Ana. [O–V–S]

a song sang An-the

2a. Shumë studentë u arrestuan. [S–Vpass]

many students were arrested [pass = passe]

b. U arrestuan shumë studentë. [Vpass–S]

were arrested many students

A noun phrase is usually fronted (i.e. precedes the verb) when it is

topicalized. Thus, when subjects are topicalized (since they are the best

candidates for topics), they usually precede the verb. Just like subjects,

dative objects are also good topic candidates in Albanian when they

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constitute thematically prominent arguments. Focus, which is identified as

the new element, occurs in clause-final position in Albanian. Kallulli

(1995) refers to Massey (1991), who notes that “scrambling of objects to

clause-initial position in Albanian is not equivalent to topicalization in

English. As different from Albanian scrambling, topicalization of the

object in English does not trigger subject–aux inversion, as shown below:

a. John saw Mary.

b. Mary John saw.

a. Mary (DO) saw John (SU).

b. Mary did John see.

Therefore, it is obviously seen that English is to use only the passive

construction in the sentences above, whereas Albanian can use either

passive or active construction because Albanian can start the same

sentences with the noun in accusative. Having this possibility, a large part

of passive constructions in Albanian can be removed completely. And this

is actually one of the key sources of difficulty that L2 learners face in

producing passive voice structures in English, as being based on their L1

the students try to form the same construction in English, which is

impossible. Consequently, they divert similar grammatical structures in L1

and make use of similar mechanisms for language acquisition.

Research Design

This study used the quantitative and qualitative methods, since this study

was intended to identify and analyze the students’ works to find the error

made by them. Qualitative methodologies refer to the research procedures

which produce descriptive data, while the quantitative method was used to

identify the students’ work.

The participants in this study were drawn from learners registered for

English Language, in the fifth semester of the academic year 2015.

The data source used in this research was the students’ works as the result

of the test conducted after the lecturing process about the English passive

voice. Then the students’ works were collected. The data in this study were

analyzed to find out the problems of the students in forming the English

passive voice.


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Analysis and Discussion

Contrastive Analysis between English and Albanian Passive Voice

Although the test of the students in this study was to change active

sentences in English into passive sentences and vice versa, yet the

Contrastive Analysis is the basic thing in learning the second language.

Therefore, it is considered necessary to analyze the differences and the

similarities of passive structure between those two languages.

Similarities:

1. Both of them substitute the position of subject and object.

2. Choose the appropriate tenses based on the time signal and the

singular or plural auxiliary verb.

3. Use Verb3 (past participle) in forming of the main verb in passive

predicate verb phrase. If necessary add „by phrase‟ after the main

verb when it is important to know who performs the action or if

the agent is not implied in the sentence.

4. Object in the active sentence becomes subject in passive sentence.

5. The „by phrase‟ can be omitted if it is not essential to the meaning

of the sentence.

6. Both English and Albanian passive need to use the transitive verb.

7. They are similar in modal passive structures.

8. Similar with Stative Passives.

9. When both direct and indirect object take the position of subject in

passive structures.

Differences:

1. Passive voice is used more in English than in Albanian.

2. Albanian language has a middle voice.

3. Albanian is described as a free word order language.

4. Albanian has full-fledged morphological case; it has five cases

respectively.

5. Subjects in Albanian may appear either preverbally or postverbally

in both active and passive constructions. The subject appearing

post-verbally is sometimes referred to as free inversion

6. Scrambling of objects to clause-initial position in Albanian is not

equivalent to topicalization in English.

The similarities between English and Albanian passive voice gave the

positive transfer to the students in learning the English passive voice. On

the other hand, the differences between the English and Albanian passive

were the negative transfer to the students. The prediction of the students’

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errors in forming the English passive voice might come from those

differences.

Students’ Errors

The students’ works were classified in the form of three columns. Each

column consists of the linguistic category, erroneous sentences, and the

correct sentences.

Category of

Errors

Erroneous Sentences Correct Sentences

Incorrect use of

past participle

1. The local jewelry was

broked by someone

yesterday.

2. The painting would be

deliver.

3. Pictures must be

include.

4. Is the article writed by

Stanley?

1. The local jewelry

was broken yesterday.

2. The painting will be

delivered tomorrow.

3. Pictures must be

included.

4. Was the article

written by Stanley?

Malformation of

active form

1. We are teaching

grammar by Ms. Sullivan.

2. The injuring is taking

to the hospital by the

firemen.

3. Ms. Sullivan teached us

grammar.

4. The town will

destroyed by an

earthquake.

5.By who were you

teaching the French

1. Ms. Sullivan taught

us grammar.

2. The firemen took

the injured to the

hospital.

3.Ms.Sullivan taught

us grammar.

4. An earthquake

destroyed the town.

5. Who taught you

French?

Incorrect use of

Simple Past in

Passive Voice

1. Is telephone was

invented by Mr. Bell.

2. Is this picture was

painted by Peter.

1. Was the telephone

invented by Mr. Bell?

2. Was this picture

painted by Peter?

1. Is thieves will be

arrested by the police.

1. Will the thieves be

arrested?


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Incorrect use of

Simple Future

in Passive Voice

2. The best project about

the environment will

choose from the teachers.

3. A set of encyclopedias

will give for the winner

by the school.

4. Is the letters coming

next week?

5. The teachers will

chooset the best project.

2. The best project

about the environment

will be chosen by the

teachers.

3. A set of

encyclopedias will be

given to the winner.

4. Will the letters be

sent next week?

5.The best project will

be chosen by the

teachers.

Incorrect

Passive Order

1.Was written by Stanley

this article?

2. The truth he will tell

them.

1. Was this article

written by Stanley?

2.They will be told the

truth.

Incorrect use of

Present

Continuous

1. A contest is organizing

by our school.

1. A contest is being

organized.

Incorrect use of

Modal Verbs in

Passive Voice

1. The drawings must

include from the students

in their project.

1. The drawings must

be included in the

project.

Passive Form

used instead of

Active Form

1. The town is being

destroyed by an

earthquake.

1. An earthquake

destroyed the town.

Using Present

Simple instead

of Simple

Future

1. Are the thieves arrested

by the police?

1. Will the thieves be

arrested?

Incorrect use of

Present Simple

in Passive Voice

1. Is animals are fed three

times a day?

1. Are the animals fed

three times a day?

Missing ‘be’ 1. This picture painted by

my uncle.

1.This picture was

painted by my uncle

Incorrect use of

Present Perfect

in Passive Voice

1. The lot of money has

offered someone.

1. A lot of money has

been offered.

Incorrect

Passive Order,

1. I’m writte by Stanley. 1. Was the article

written by Stanley?

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Tense and

P.Participle

Active Form

used instead of

Passive Form

1.The school will given

the winner a set of

encyclopedias.

2. Our school has

organized a contest.

3. Tomorrow he will

deliver the painting.

4. Stanley wrote this

article.

1. The winner will be

given a set of

encyclopedias.

2. A contest is being

organized.

3. The painting will be

delivered tomorrow.

4. Was the article

written by Stanley?

The facts indicate that difficulties with English passive voice structures are

a consistent phenomenon in L2 acquisition, and do not follow in a direct

way from properties of the L1.

Out of 33 students, 4 of them made no errors and 3 made less or

insignificant errors whereas the rest of them made the errors given in the

table above.

Many students made word order errors in producing the passive form. It

seemed that they were confused in forming the passive sentence from the

active sentence, and such errors stemmed from difficulties with automatic

implementation of L2 procedures.

Based on the above analysis, the category of errors ‘Active form used

instead of passive form’, ‘Incorrect use of Present Continuous’ and the

category ‘Incorrect use of Simple Future in Passive Voice’, reflect the

interference of the students’ first language, respectively their

predisposition in using active form.

Regarding other categories of errors, it seemed that the students did not

understand the basic rule of English passive voice that is “be + past

participle”. So, they either omitted ‘be’ or used verbs in present

simple/infinitive instead of using past participle. Some verbs were written

wrongly, such as, writte, writed, chooset, choos. Furthermore, the analysis

show that learners' errors are associated with some syntactic

configurations, such as those in the category of ‘Incorrect use of Simple

Past in Passive Voice’ and ‘Incorrect use of Simple Future in Passive

Voice’, suggesting that L2 learners divert similar grammatical rules while

trying to form a passive structure in English.


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Conclusion

The differences and similarities of both English and Albanian passive

voice were found based on the grammar theory of those languages.

The similarities are: both of them substitute the position of subject and

object; use past participle in forming of the main verb in passive predicate

verb phrase. If necessary add „by phrase‟ after the main verb when it is

important to know who performs the action; object in the active sentence

becomes subject in passive sentence; both English and Albanian passive

need to use the transitive verb.

The differences are: passive voice is used more in English than in

Albanian; Albanian language has a middle voice; different from English,

Albanian is described as a free word order language; Albanian has full-

fledged morphological case; it has five cases, whereas English has two;

scrambling of objects to clause-initial position in Albanian is not

equivalent to topicalization in English.

This study also attempted to find the source of the students’ errors

particularly in using the English passive voice. The data were taken from

the students’ test result, which was aimed to know the problems faced by

the students in using the English passive voice. The linguistic error mostly

made by the students was in the category of ‘Active form used instead of

passive form’, ‘Incorrect use of Present Continuous’, ‘Incorrect use of

Simple Future in Passive Voice’ and ‘Malformation of active form’.

This study is expected to give a contribution in the area of teaching and

learning especially in teaching English as a foreign language.

References

Azar, B. S., 1999, “Understanding and Using English Grammar”

Coleman, B., 1997, “In Defense of the Passive Voice in Legal Writing.”

Chomsky, N., 1965, Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Cambridge: M.I.T.

Press

Demiraj, Shaban (1988) Gjuha Shqipe dhe Historia e Saj. Tirana: Shtepia

Botuese e Librit Universitar.

Eckersley, C.E. and J.M. Eckersley (1960). A Comprehensive English

Grammar. England: Longman Ltd.

Kallulli, Dalina (1995) Critics in Albanian. Doctoral dissertation,

University of Trondheim.

Massey, V. W. (1991) Compositionality and constituency in Albanian.

PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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188

Mimoza Rista-Dema (2008) Verb–subject word order in Albanian English.

Journal compilation C _ 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600

Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street,

Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Quirk, Randolph et al. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English

Language. New York: Longman.

Wikipedia; Free encyclopedia English Passive

Difficulties in Learning and Producing Passive Voice

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